Deng Ai
Deng Ai is one of the generals who served Wei. He was famed for his ability to instantly analyze a battlefield for the best places to store grain and position troops. Deng Ai was discovered by Sima Yi and contributed to fighting Shu's northern campaigns led by Jiang Wei. His army is accredited to have caused Liu Shan's surrender. Before his playable appearance in the Dynasty Warriors series, he was an NPC Wei general since the series's third installment. His playable incarnation's height is 200 cm (6'7") and he is thirty-sixth place in Gamecity's Dynasty Warriors 7 character popularity poll. His height in Kessen II is 185 cm (close to 6'1") Role in GamesEdit Dynasty WarriorsEdit Throughout the Dynasty Warriors series, Deng Ai appears as a regular subordinate general for Wei or Sima Yi. In Dynasty Warriors 4, he is seen at Capture of Cheng Du. During the fifth title, he is a somewhat prominent general at the Wu Zhang Plains. In the Wei version of the stage, he is an officer under Zhong Hui, who sets up the catapults in order to repel the Shu forces. Conversely, Deng Ai prepares the catapults in the Shu version of the map. For his playable appearance, Deng Ai is first seen as a Wei general at Wu Zhang Plains, helping the offensive against Shu. He is later seen meeting Sima Zhao as they are on orders to assist Cao Shuang's conquest in Shu. While the campaign ends in failure, Deng Ai is pleasantly surprised by Sima Zhao's integrity and henceforth places his faith in the Sima family. He supports their efforts against Shu and Jiang Wei. During one such an encounter at Tianshui, Deng Ai and Guo Huai are ordered to rescue the surrounded Sima Zhao. Guo Huai's heroics leads to their seemingly turnaround victory. However, he and his men soon discover Guo Huai's corpse and are faced with Jiang Wei's swift counteroffensive. As opposed to losing their drive by the death, Deng Ai commands the men to fight in honor of the departed general's memory. As such, they have a resounding victory over Shu. When Jiang Wei launches the invasion at Duangu, Deng Ai and Zhong Hui are ordered to stop their foe. Deng Ai attempts to conduct the formation rationally and with careful planning, but Zhong Hui refuses to accept his authority and hastily leads the troops. With the Wei army trapped soon after, Deng Ai is impressed by Jiang Wei's cunning but moves to counter. After he rescues Zhong Hui, Deng Ai personally defeats Jiang Wei and causes a second withdraw. Deng Ai leads his men to take the mountain path for the final battle at Chengdu. They encounter a mysterious fog, and phantoms of Zhuge Liang haunt the Wei troops. Remaining calm throughout their supernatural encounter, Deng Ai dispels the illusion to restore moral and continues the march to Chengdu without further incidents. He is last seen joining the subjugation forces within Shu. In his first Legendary Mode, Deng Ai fights Sun Quan and the Wu forces with only a few allies as the main forces are busy with Shu. His second Legendary Mode is Zhong Hui's rebellion, and Deng Ai protects Sima Zhao from the traitor and Jiang Wei. Character InformationEdit DevelopmentEdit Deng Ai was created to be seen as a chiseled general of many years of experience. To emphasize his years on the battlefield, he was given a buff physique to toughen his body. The selective usage of metal for his outfit is to emphasize his role as the muscle power for Jin. Since his bandanna conceals his eyebrows, it makes it intentionally difficult to perceive his emotions. The producer believes it lets him be a taciturn and persuasive character. Deng Ai is meant to be a brash looking yet sincere character for Jin. PersonalityEdit For his playable Dynasty Warriors appearance, Deng Ai is a Wei general who once acted as a minster in office. After witnessing Sima Yi's intellect, however, he decided to return to the battlefront and watch over the troops during the campaigns against Shu. He has a hobby of looking at maps and, to preserve their accuracy, he is cautious of the war changing the geography. His humbleness yet sharp wit makes him a valuable and trusted ally for the Sima family. Deng Ai (197-264),[1] style name Shizai, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. It was said that whenever he saw a hill or wide valley, he would immediately size up the best places to store grain and position troops. His talent was recognized by Sima Yi, who recommended him to take up greater appointments. Deng Ai also defended Wei from attacks led by Jiang Wei of the rival state of Shu Han. During these attacks, he had seemingly mastered the late Zhuge Liang's strategies, and was said to have made maps in his free time. In 257, along with his rival Zhong Hui, he defeated Jiang Wei at Duan Valley, using his maps to launch an ambush against Jiang Wei. In 263, Deng Ai took part in the campaign against Shu with Zhong Hui. Jiang Wei fended them off somewhere south of Hanzhong. Deng Ai suggested to pass troops through Yinping (陰平) but Zhong Hui rejected the idea. Deng Ai then carried out his own plan with his son Deng Zhong and troops and it turned out to be a great success. They eventually managed to enter Chengdu, and the Shu emperor Liu Shan surrendered. Zhong Hui and Deng Ai became fierce rivals due to the race to Chengdu, which Deng Ai won. Jiang Wei, however, did not want Shu to fall. He determined that Zhong Hui wanted to rebel against Wei. They united, defamed Deng Ai, and ordered Wei Guan to capture him. Jiang Wei's plan failed and the Wei army killed Zhong Hui and Jiang Wei. These soldiers tried to rescue Deng Ai, but Wei Guan feared that they might take vengeance on him so he killed both Deng Ai and Deng Zhong. Deng Ai, prior to his appointment, was often harassed because of his stuttering problem, a fault which he used to his advantage in speaking with his superiors, who often regarded his curious stuttering as jokes or witty expressions. Modern referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deng_Ai&action=edit&section=1 edit Deng Ai is first introduced as a playable character in the seventh installment of Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series. In the game, he is erroneously portrayed as an officer of Eastern Jin, although he died a year before it was founded. Category:Characters Category:Jin Warriors